It’s common in the world of sales to talk about “calling high” in the organization. The idea being that getting to the higher levels means access to bigger budgets, as the execs at the top have the view from the top so to speak. At lower levels of the organization, budgets are smaller and competition can be tight for those dollars. But at the executive level, budgets can be moved around and combined for the right types of opportunities.

This is the new world of social sales where it should be much easier to get to the right decision makers at the right time. So I find it curious that most sales reps still tend to start their sales activities at the lower levels of the company versus getting to the relevant senior executive. I wondered why and decided to ask members of my favorite LinkedIn group - Sales Playbook – this question, “What are the top reasons that most sales people can’t seem to get a foot in the door to the C-Suite?” Reasons like fear, feeling “less than” and inexperience showed up. I happen to like how fellow Sales Playbook member @JerryVoltero summed it up. He said…

1. Lack of preparation to know who the true decision maker is that they should be talking to.

2. They do a lousy job of building rapport with the gatekeeper and don’t give them a strong enough argument for them to be the one who gets to come in and utilize some of that exec’s valuable time. Remember the gatekeeper’s job is to not waste the exec’s time.

3. If you are using a bottom up approach to get there, you have to get your champion to advocate with both the exec and the gatekeeper to get that proverbial foot in the door.

4. And once you get there, you better know what to ask them to figure out whether or not what you are selling will solve the business problem he/she has. Preparation is the key for sure.

And to Jerry’s point #4, preparation is not only key, it is critical! You may have a great product, perhaps even the best in your field, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore preparation. You may have the best product or service, but if you enter the sales process at the wrong time OR you don’t have the buy-in from the relevant senior executive, you have a big problem.

In today’s world of instantaneous access to information there is no excuse for lack of planning. Authors Nicholas Read and Stephen Bistritz remind us that…

“If you don’ take the time to stay current on your customers and prospects, the information won’t pop into your head by itself.” –Selling to the C-Suite.

I think that about sums it up!

Anyone who knows me also knows that I am NOT a fan of cold calling. Perhaps it had its place in sales history, but I wonder. Was it ever truly successful? No one likes the process really. Not the sales people being told by management to do it, or the unsuspecting prospects who are receiving the call. Frankly, I just don’t get why there is still such a large contingent of sales people out there who insist that cold calling is a viable sales approach. So, all I can figure is that they must be selling a product or service that is largely transactional in nature not requiring a lot of buy-in from senior management.

Calling High in the Organization

In enterprise level selling, which requires you to gain access to the relevant senior executive(s) in the organization, cold calling isn’t a smart strategy. Why? The traditional approach is to use a canned product/feature script that you rattle off to everyone you call. Executives aren’t interested. And, invariably you are coming to the party way too late anyway. Do you even know when the senior level executives get involved in the buying process?

Even if you can get the right executive on the phone at the right time in the process, is your call addressing their needs or yours? I think that most of us can agree that typically sales people are focused on their own agenda – getting that appointment or sale. The reality is that executives don’t buy features and benefits.  It isn’t that those things aren’t important, but a senior executive wants to know how what you sell solves their business problems on a much bigger scale. In order to know what problems they are facing, sales people need to do their homework. That’s where social media fits in.

“Executives are increasingly using the Internet to inform their views, but they do not type in the category because early in the process, they’re not educated enough to know where a solution will come from. Instead, they search based on the problem confronting them.” –Selling to the C-Suite.

For the naysayers who believe that social media doesn’t have a place it the world of B2B selling, take note of this quote. Executives ARE using social media to source information about products and services that can solve their problem. Moreover, using tools like LinkedIn can give you incredible leverage during the sales process. Gain competitive advantage by better targeting and qualification, as well as planning for that all important conversation when you connect with the senior executive you have in mind.

To get to the C-Suite, planning and research are key. Have you done yours?

At Selling Power, Founder and Publisher Gerhard Gschwandtner penned a brief online article about meeting buyers at the right time. He suggests an ideal scenario in which our sales hero enters a coffee shop and just happens to start up a conversation with a buyer who needs exactly what he has to sell. It got me thinking about the importance of timing in the sales process.

It is the dream sales situation, isn’t it? You meet a buyer at the exact moment that they have a thorny problem to solve. You just happen to have the ideal solution. You get along instantly; they want to hear more. There’s no haggling over price. This buyer is desperate to eradicate the pain and solve the problem. He’ll pay practically anything. You zip on over to the buyer’s office to complete an agreement that is approved by legal in minutes. Oh, and they cut you a check in advance to get the process started. A few short hours after that fateful coffee shop meeting, you walk away with a six figure deal.

Uh huh…let’s get real.

It rarely works this way in the real world. In the real world, we meet people all the time that would benefit from using our products and services. The problem is that we know it, but they don’t yet. It’s tempting to want to convince them, right now, that a problem is looming on their horizon. But timing is a tricky thing. Jump to fast, push too hard and too soon…bye, bye sales opportunity. When it comes to using social networking tools to expand their sales reach, I’m certain that this is a lesson that many sales people are destined to learn the hard way. Some, no doubt, already have.

Stay visible.

Technology provides limitless opportunities for the sales people who recognize that timing is everything in sales. When the buyer is ready to buy, these savvy social sales people want that buyer to think of them first! That’s why they remain focused on the bigger picture. Core elements of their process include building strong networks and cultivating sales opportunities by providing “value” in advance of the sale. That value can be anything from targeted information that benefits the buyer in their job, white papers about trends in their industry, relevant blog posts or connections to peers in their field.

To succeed in the social sales world, sales people (and their management!) need to accept that no one gets married without being courted first. Be patient and take the time to court your prospective buyer until they are ready to walk down the aisle. How you approach the courtship will say volumes about what happens after you both say, “I do”.

In a recent presentation I delivered, I talked about how John Patterson, NCR founder is typically credited with being the father of the structured sales process largely in use today. Patterson wanted a way to create a repeatable pattern of sales success and in 1887 rolled out his NCR Primer.

Patterson created a detailed management system to monitor and train company salesman. Scripts were given to salesman to memorize and they were each assigned territories to cover. Patterson strove to create a sales method that encompassed all aspects of selling, from the calculation of quotas and commission rates to the motivation of discouraged salesmen. Sound familiar?

Your sales teams have likely been indoctrinated in Patterson’s approach, given that the majority of today’s sales training programs still focus on methods introduced by Patterson 122 years ago. I think it’s about time for a refresh!

Sales leaders have told me of their struggles to increase sales using tactics that have worked for them in the past, but what they overlook (or haven’t quite accepted) is that the way sales is conducted has fundamentally changed. Now more than ever, it is a buyer’s world. And buyers have about had it with sales people who over promise and under deliver, who tell them half truths and outright lies just to get the sale in the door.

Today’s sales success will hinge on understanding and participating in the fluid, collaborative, conversational nature of the internet. This new world is driven by “conversation” and creates what Gerhard Gschwandtner; Publisher of Selling Power Magazine calls a conversation economy. No longer do companies dictate how prospects will buy, nor can they continue to pretend they really know what’s best for the client. This sales world is all about adapting to what the customer wants. You must match your sales process with your customer’s buying process and they definitely will not be the same.

On the internet your prospects are talking to each other. You must be there to engage in the conversation. When buyers have a need – they must think of you, but if your sales people aren’t visible on popular networking sites like LinkedIn then they will be locked out. Make it first priority to ensure that your sales people have profiles that are:

• 100% complete
• Include a professional head shot
• Utilize key words that your buyers would use to search out your services in the summary and name header
• Create a compelling summary of your offering
• Utilize applications to add more oomph to your profile. Include a presentation using Slideshare, create an Amazon book list or integrate blog posts.
• Use status updates strategically to stay visible with your network.
• Build solid search lists of ideal prospects and work your network to secure introductions.

These are but a few of the ways to get moving with LinkedIn to build your buying network. So what are you waiting for? If your sales people keep selling the same way they always have…you will only end up with more stress and lower sales. What worked in past no longer does so it’s time to adapt to this new world…now!

What do you use to build your network? Linked In, Plaxo? – once you have your profile, how are you using it?

What about Facebook, Twitter – using them? What things have you done that have successfully attracted clients?

What’s your blog strategy? Do you know why a blog is important?

Love to hear how you are using social media to attract more clients and sell more often!